Editorial: Women in comparative immunology

Comparative immunology researches the similarities and differences among living organisms merging physiological, functional, and genomic information to understand the evolution of the immune response. The diversity of defensive solutions hired by organisms to control pathogens, chemical contaminants, and malignant cell transformation seems boundless because of the capability of organisms to adapt to their environment and acquire resistance to infections and diseases. As a discipline, comparative immunology began in the sixties when many immunologists pursued a comparative approach to immunology to obtain information on those aspects of immunity that are universal because they are phylogenetically preserved. Progress in the field was hampered for a long time by the resistance of scientists whose thinking was entrenched in the idea of the apparent problems of successfully translating these results into human immunity (homocentric vision and scientific prejudice). Today comparative immunology is progressing fast and the development of high-throughput technologies such as deep-sequencing and bioinformatics has opened new frontiers to explore the diversity of immunity in model organisms for a better understanding of human beings. This has involved the discovery of new biomolecules and functions that further knowledge of immunological evolution and provide new solutions to mitigate human diseases. Many women have been at the forefront of this progress and in recent years scientists have conducted groundbreaking research in immunology, contributing to our understanding of the immune system in various species, including humans and animals. This Research Topic aims to highlight research across all these possible fields of comparative immunology, promoting work led by women scientists. Barela Hudgell and Smith, Yakovenko et al., Simonin et al., Wiarda and Loving have contributed to the growth of this SI, publishing their most recent results in the field.